


after the fire dies

by Somethin_Strange



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Author does things with Stan's Tattoo, Brief suicidal ideation, Canon Compliant, Conversations, Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, I AM TAKING ARTISTIC LISCENCE HERE, Light Angst, Mild Language, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death, YES I KNOW WHAT THE TATTOO MEANS IN CANON, because why not, very light angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25619608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somethin_Strange/pseuds/Somethin_Strange
Summary: Stanley’s eyes fluttered open to a strange void. Well, a strange void and a giant pink lizard.“Hello Stanley,” the axolotl somehow said. “Right now, you’re dead.”Stanley sighed. “Typical.”---Stanley Pines, after the blue fire closes in, meets an omniscient Axolotl with things to say.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	after the fire dies

**Author's Note:**

> A random headcanon I came up with about what REALLY happens when someone gets their entire mind wiped.

The fire closed in, consuming everything. Stan held a picture frame in his hands, smiling, as his eyes closed.

Stanley’s eyes fluttered open to a strange void.  
Well, a strange void and a giant pink lizard.

  
“ _Hello Stanley_ ,” the axolotl somehow said. “ _Right now, you’re dead._ ”

  
Stanley sighed. “Typical.”

  
The man ran a hand through his hair, trying to un-fluff it from his Ford disguise.  
“Did that memory wipe kill me?”

  
The lizard nodded.

“ _I am the Axolotl. Let’s have a chat, shall we? Sit down in one of my bean bag chairs._ ”  
Stan looked around, finding a strange bean bag chair suddenly behind him. The conman sat down and the Axolotl lowered itself to eye-level. In all of this weirdness, at least the chair was comfortable.

“So, we stopped Weirdmaggedon.” Stanley started, breaking the silence.  
The Axolotl titled it’s head. “ _YOU stopped Weirdmaggedon._ ”  
The man looked aside. “I didn’t do anything. Ford shot the memory gun, and the kids distracted Bill. I was just the test subject.”

Guess he couldn’t even be a good test subject, huh? Just up and dying on Ford and the kids.

Oh shit.

The kids.

“Shit shit shit, the kids!” He bolted up, panic setting in. “They ain’t gonna mourn me too bad, right? I don’t wanna give them trauma or nothin’, a-and I wanna be there for their birthday-”  
“ _Calm yourself, Stanley Pines. The children will be fine. I will explain everything._ ”

Reluctantly, the conman sat back down.

“ _That burn scar on your shoulder._ ” The Axolotl started.  
Stan’s eyes hardened. “What about it?”  
“ _It is no ordinary symbol, Stanley. Do you know what a rune is?_ ” Stanley nodded. “ _Well, the symbol on your burn is a rune. In Cipher’s homeworld, it means Continue. It also means Second Chances, and the Will to Keep Going. Basically, it means the spirit of continuing even when everything seems impossible._ ”  
Stan shifted. “That’s fascinatin’, but what does it have to do with me?”  
The Axolotl continued. “ _I’m not done yet. Cipher meant it as encouragement to your brother in his days of building the portal. But when you two fought and he gave you the brand, the essence of the rune went into you._ ”

A pink cloud of color passed the Axolotl’s head, curling around it’s frills.

“ _In your quest to open the portal, you have learned much. You know the Conservation Law of Thermodynamics?_ ”  
Stanley nodded. “Energy can’t be created or destroyed. ‘S gotta go somewhere.” This was easy compared to the other stuff he’d had to learn.  
“ _In the attempted ritual to destroy Bill Cipher, lots and lots of energy was created. Since everyone was supposed to hold hands, it would have been a closed loop with enough of a direction to take out Cipher. But since the ritual failed, a lot of the energy was collected in one place._ ”  
Stanley stared at it, uncomprehending. Where did that energy go? Why did the Axolotl stare at him like that?

“Wait, d’ya mean me?”  
The salamander nodded. “ _Yes, I mean you. You were the last one to enter the loop and the first to leave. The energy, unused into defeating Cipher, remains in you._ ”  
“...so what?”  
“ _This power is enough to restart your heart if you would like._ ”

Stan came up short.

“Wait, so, I’m basically just gonna come back from the dead? What the hell?”  
“ _I am simply the one to explain this, not the maker of the rule. Plus, I did say that you have a choice. But know this: Cipher still clings to life within you. If you die, then he dies too. You have the choice to give up here. You have the choice to die, killing Him in the process._ ”

For a split second, he considered it. He had done what he needed, he had saved the world. Even if Cipher was barely alive, he had done what was needed for now, Did anyone really need him anymore?

No. No, he had to keep going, he had to survive at least until Dipper and Mabel’s birthday.

Then, if it proved that nobody cared about him after all, he could die.

“I think, just for now, I’m gonna live.”  
The Axolotl’s speech now had a greater warmth to it. “ _Good choice. Stanley Pines, know that your family does care for you. Even your twin, although he is awful at showing it to you. Keep going and keep surviving._ ”  
A lump formed in Stanley’s throat. “Alright, ‘ll take your word for it.”

The Axolotl reached one of it’s hands forward and touched the conman’s chest. He wasn’t even aware that his heart wasn’t beating until it was started again. A beating heart actually felt kinda nice.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness and head pain hit him.

“ _Now that you are alive again, you may start to feel the effects of the memory gun. After all, you got your whole mind erased by your brother. Ready to go back to The Mystery Shack, I believe it’s called?_ ”

“The...what?”

It scared him so bad; Memories that should have been there were suddenly slipping through his fingers. A fog was descending upon his head, obscuring everything, and it scared him so bad.  
“ _Ah, it’s already working. You will not remember this conversation when you awaken, nor will you remember anything. Goodbye Stanley, this will not be the last time we meet._ ”  
Stanley(?) looked frantically around the void. “W-wait, where am I? What’s going o-”

He fell backwards into the dark, and the fog settling over his mind slowly took everything.

Slowly, slowly the faces of two children he cared about more than life itself and a man he gave everything for disappeared.

And right there, as he came back to life, Stanley Pines died.

And the man’s eyes opened again as he kneeled in a sunny field.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you really liked, leave a kudos or a review!  
> Have a fantastic day! :D


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